


Window Seat

by imtorimountain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Finn hates flying, Fluff, M/M, Stormpilot, mild panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 16:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14524155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imtorimountain/pseuds/imtorimountain
Summary: Finn has barely been on an airplane since he lost his parents in a crash when he was 5 years old. On the flight taking him to France for the 20th anniversary of his parents' death, he finds himself more scared than ever.





	Window Seat

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my friend and beta reader Chris.

Finn hated flying. It was the worst thing in the world.

He’d lost his parents in a crash when he was five. They were coming home from Europe and the plane malfunctioned not even an hour after it left Paris. Finn was taken in by relatives who never cared about him. The only times he’d flown since then was to France and back to visit the site of his parents’ death on the 10 year anniversary.

Now it was time for the 20th anniversary. As he made his way down the aisle of the plane looking for his seat, Finn mentally cursed himself for not booking the trip earlier; his last minute ticket had given him a seat by the window. He’d like not to be reminded of how much danger he was in, contained in a metal death trap 35 thousand feet above the ground.

Finn sat down in his seat, praying that he could fall asleep as soon as possible. He shut his eyes and tried to relax.

—

“Excuse me, sorry, coming through!”

Poe ran as best he could through the crowded terminal to get to his gate. Boarding closed in three minutes.

He finally saw the big shining _B41_ and stumbled up to the desk. He showed his passport and was let through, with maybe thirty seconds to spare. He stood still for a second to catch his breath.

He let his backpack drop into his hand as he made his way onto the full plane and looked for his seat. It was near the back, between an elderly lady and a man in his mid twenties with his eyes shut.

Poe hauled his carry on luggage into the overhead compartment and then – after asking the lady to stand up – he sat down in his seat. He leaned his head back and took a few deep breaths, still drained from running across the entirety of Terminal 4 at the JFK airport.

“ _Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard this Imperial Travelers plane LS-15 to Paris. We now ask for your full attention as our flight attendants show you a safety demonstration_.”

Poe turned to the man on his left and saw that his eyes were still closed. He nudged him carefully. The man’s eyes flew open and he gripped his armrests tightly. He looked at Poe with wide eyes.

“Whoa, calm down buddy,” Poe said quickly and raised his hands. “Breathe, alright? It’s time for the safety demonstration, you gotta listen.”

The man looked at Poe for a moment before he blinked and moved to look at the flight attendant closest to them. “Yeah… Yeah, right.” He coughed. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem,” Poe said with a smile and turned to the attendant as well. He had flown with Imperial Travelers a thousand times and knew their demonstration by heart, so he glanced at the man next to him now and then. He looked nervous, and judging by how hard he was still gripping the armrests, Poe was certain that he was terrified. Of flying, maybe? He decided to ask him about it later.

—

A nudge on his arm made Finn’s eyes open faster than he’d ever think possible, and he gripped the armrests under his hands.

He quickly looked to his right and came face to face with a man whose hazel eyes looked at him beneath curly black hair. Finn’s wide eyes met the man’s calm ones.

“Whoa, calm down buddy,” the man said and raised his hands. “Breathe, alright? It’s time for the safety demonstration, you gotta listen.”

Finn felt himself staring at the man for what felt like an eternity before he forced himself to blink. He moved his gaze to one of the flight attendants standing in the aisle.

“Yeah… Yeah, right,” he said with a cough. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem,” the man replied.

Finn kept his eyes glued to the flight attendant but his ears weren’t listening. His mind raced a million miles an hour and he tried to even his breathing which despite everything became unsteadier by the second. His hands gripped the armrests even tighter and he could almost feel bruises forming where the hard plastic dug into his palms.

The flight attendants finished their demonstration and started checking that the passengers’ seat belts were buckled and all the window blinds and tables were up. Finn saw a flight attendant talking to him, telling him to buckle his belt, but he couldn’t move. The attendant frowned and reached for him, likely to shake his shoulder.

The hand was stopped by another, one belonging to the man on Finn’s right. Finn watched in slow motion as the man told the attendant that he’d take care of it, but he didn’t register what he had said until he turned back to Finn and looked at him with his hazel eyes again.

Finn heard him talking – “Hey buddy, can you hear me?” – and suddenly snapped out of the trance he was in.

“Sorry!” he blurted out.

“You’re alright, man,” the man said. He put a hand on Finn’s right arm. “I’m gonna need you to relax, alright? Let go of the armrests for just a couple of seconds.”

Finn looked down and realized how hard he was gripping the rests. He let go, barely able to feel his fingers anymore.

“Great, good,” the man said with a gentle smile. He held out his hand for Finn to shake. “My name’s Poe Dameron. I understand that you’re scared of flying, alright? You just have to buckle your seatbelt real quick. We’re taking off in a few minutes.”

Finn gulped. Shaky hands lifted the two parts of the belt and moved them towards the other. Just as he was about to buckle himself up, he lost it.

“I can’t do this, man,” he panicked in a hushed voice. He may be terrified but he didn’t need the whole plane to know.

“I can’t do this,” he repeated. “I hate flying, I can’t believe I’m making myself do this, and sitting by the window is so much worse and oh my _God_ I am going to _die_ and –”

“No one’s gonna die,” Poe said. Finn scoffed but Poe shook his head. “No one is going to die.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve probably flown loads before,” Finn muttered.

“Yes I have, as both a passenger and a pilot,” Poe confirmed. He bit his lip, thinking, then unbuckled his own belt.

“What – what are you doing?” Finn asked.

“We’re switching places,” Poe said. He turned to the passenger on his right and asked if she could stand up for a moment. The old lady did and Poe followed. He turned to Finn and held his hand out. “Come on, switch with me,” he insisted. Finn finally gave in and stood up on shaky legs, stepping into the aisle to let the other man sit in his seat by the window. Finn went after him and sat down in the middle seat, between Poe and the old lady who sat as well.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Finn said as he hesitantly buckled his seat belt.

“Of course not,” Poe said and buckled hit own belt. He then looked up at Finn. “But I’ve seen many scared fliers in my days and you’re by far the worst.”

The plane moved backwards and it took all of his willpower for Finn to not scream. They hadn’t even lifted from the ground yet. Why did he have to be so damn scared of this?

He felt Poe’s hand on top of his own. “You can do this, I know you can,” he said. “Tell me about why you’re so afraid of flying.”

Finn hesitated for a second before he told Poe about his parents. With every word, the other man’s face grew more solemn. When Finn was done, Poe grasped his hand in his and smiled at him.

“Guess what?” he asked. Finn furrowed his brows. Poe grinned. “We’re doing this. We’re already in the air.”

Finn’s eyes widened and he looked past Poe out of the window. They were indeed several thousand of feet in the air already, with the ground below them still vanishing further away.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled. The panic that had grown inside of him since last night suddenly calmed down.

“Oh God.” He looked at Poe again. “How on earth did you do that?! I didn’t even notice!”

Poe grinned and winked at Finn. “Secret tip we learned at the academy during my education.” Finn raised an eyebrow, ignoring the flutter in his stomach. Just his nerves acting up.

“Secret, huh?” he replied. “You weren’t just simply distracting me by making me talk about something else instead of focus on the fact that I’m in an airplane?”

Poe scoffed. “Obviously not,” he laughed. “That would be too simple an explanation.”

—

“We’re doing this. We’re already in the air.”

Poe watched as shock and then a kind of relief spread across the man’s face. “Holy shit,” he mumbled and Poe laughed.

“Oh God, how on earth did you do that?!” the man wondered. “I didn’t even notice!”

“Secret tip we learned at the academy during my education,” Poe said with a grin and a wink. The man quirked his eyebrow and Poe felt his stomach twist. It twisted further when the man shot back, “secret, huh?” with a grin of his own. “You weren’t just simply distracting me by making me talk about something else instead of focus on the fact that I’m in an airplane?”

Poe scoffed. “Obviously not,” he laughed. “That would be too simple an explanation.”

The man laughed as well and leaned back in his seat. “I never thought I’d be able to sit on an airplane and smile,” he confessed and turned to face Poe. “I never introduced myself, by the way,” he added and held his hand out. “I’m Finn.”

“Finn,” Poe repeated and shook Finn’s hand. “Got a last name to go with that? I gave you mine.”

Finn shrugged. “I don’t remember my parents’ last name and I don’t like using the one I was given when I moved in with my relatives. I just go by Finn unless I’m signing something.”

“Well, Finn,” Poe began and smiled, “good to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too, Poe,” Finn smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Don't be afraid to leave kudos and maybe a comment ❤


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